Emily Dickinson

STEP Lightly on This Narrow Spot

STEP Lightly on This Narrow Spot - meaning Summary

Heart as Sovereign Territory

The poem addresses a visitor, warning them to tread gently on a small but powerful inner place—the speaker’s heart. Its private "narrow spot" is framed as more expansive and consequential than any land, containing "emerald seams" of value. The speaker insists on dignity and reverence, claiming that the name linked to this inner space will be remembered wherever war, flags, or fame go, so it deserves lofty care.

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STEP lightly on this narrow spot! The broadest land that grows Is not so ample as the breast These emerald seams enclose. Step lofty; for this name is told As far as cannon dwell, Or flag subsist, or fame export Her deathless syllable.

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